The Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC), part of the Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), has issued the Arabic edition of ‘The Innovation Complex: Cities, Tech, and the New Economy’ by Sharon Zukin – translated to Arabic by Dr. Muhammad Ziyad Kubba – under the Centre’s Kalima Project for Translation.

The book sheds light on the world of programming and developing systems and applications, discussing sociologists and business experts who study innovation focus on the informal social networks among organisations that ultimately lead to designing marketable products and ideas, emphasising the critical role of “tech talent”, who want to live and work in cities.

Each chapter of the book focuses on a production space where economic norms and cultural principles are enacted, applied, and put in the right place. Over the course of these processes, the entire innovation complex – including buildings, districts, and the entire city – evolves in size, shape, and meaning.

While readers may not be familiar with the places the book visits, it is crucial that they learn about them as they create a spatial, imaginative, and social narrative that shapes the way the builders of the Innovation Complex see the world.

The book begins by exploring the subculture of hackathons, where programmers collaborate to develop software in unconventional ways over a short period of time. It describes the career paths of New York startup founders and venture capitalists, and traces the transformation of the Brooklyn waterfront from abandoned industrial land to an “innovation coastline”.

Moreover, the book covers the relationship between hackathons and establishing startups and accelerators, shedding light on how large companies in New York contribute to the establishment and financing of startups, and then to the employment of young programmers.

In her book, urban planning expert Sharon Zukin demonstrates how the new urban economy is shaped with a rich and insightful account of the rise of technology in New York City. She draws on personal interviews with venture capitalists, technophiles, and economic development officials, and outlines how the holistic system is formed and the city is reshaped.

Born in 1946, Sharon Zukin is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Centre at City University of New York. Her works explore the conditions and development of cities and the reasons behind this development, focusing on culture and the real estate market, especially in New York City. Zukin supervises doctoral dissertations and occasionally teaches courses at the university. Her most notable works in that regard include ‘Resilient Detroit’, ‘Global Cities, Local Streets’, ‘Point of Purchase’, ‘The Cultures of Cities’, ‘Loft Living’, and ‘Beyond Marx and Tito’.

The book’s translator Dr. Muhammad Ziyad Kubba was born in 1951 and earned a PhD from the School of Oriental and African Studies in the University of London in 1979. He has issued many translated books in general and neurolinguistics, and won a number of prestigious awards, such as: The Sheikh Zayed Book Award (Translation category) in the 2010-2011 edition and the Best Book Translated into Arabic category at the Kuwait International Fair in 2002. Dr. Kubba also held the position of professor in the English language department at King Saud University and the Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he supervised several master’s and doctoral dissertations, publishing a range of peer-reviewed scientific research papers.